JP7513807B1 - Contact Output Device - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To realize a contact output device configured by connecting the contact outputs of each redundant contact output circuit in a wired-OR manner, in which the operation of the contact output circuit of one system does not stop even if a short circuit occurs in the power line of the other system.
[Solution] The contact output device 1 comprises N systems (N≧2) of contact output circuits 10 each including a control unit 20 and a power supply unit 30 that supplies power to the control unit 20, and a wired-OR circuit unit 40 in which the output lines L of the respective N systems of contact output circuits 10 are wired-OR connected. The control unit 20 has an output relay 22 and an operating contact 23i of the output relay 22, one end of which is connected to the output of a drive power supply unit 45 and the other end of which is connected to the output line L of the contact output circuit 10, and the wired-OR circuit unit 40 has a drive power supply unit 45 that outputs a wired-OR connection of the positive pole shunt lines of the respective N systems commonly connected on the upstream side of a 24V positive line, via fuses F3, F4 and a diode 46 whose forward direction is the power supply direction.
[Selected Figure] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a contact output device.

Contact output devices used in railway signal safety systems and the like are configured to be redundant by providing multiple identical devices to achieve the required high reliability. For example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a known redundant configuration is one in which the contact output circuits (contact output devices 17, 18) are configured as a dual system, and the contact outputs of each circuit are wired-OR connected by an OR gate to provide an external output. In this configuration, when a fault occurs in the own system, each circuit stops operating and disconnects the output of its own system, allowing the circuits of the other system to continue outputting without stopping, eliminating the need for a system switching mechanism.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-191339

However, in a configuration in which the contact outputs of each redundant contact output circuit are wired-OR connected to provide external output, if a power line of one system experiences a short-circuit failure, the circuits of the other system also stop. Specifically, for example, in a configuration in which the contact outputs of duplicated contact output circuits are wired-OR connected, if a power line of system 1 experiences a short-circuit failure, it takes a certain amount of time for the contact output circuit of system 1 to stop operating and disconnect its own system's output. During the disconnection, the power line of system 2 also becomes at the same potential as the power line of system 1 through the wired-OR connection, and as a result, the contact output circuit of system 2 also stops operating before it is disconnected.

The problem that this invention aims to solve is to realize a contact output device configured by connecting the contact outputs of each redundant contact output circuit in a wired-OR manner, so that even if a short circuit occurs in the power line of one system, the operation of the contact output circuit of the other system will not stop.

The first invention for solving the above problem is:
A contact output device comprising N systems (N≧2) of contact output circuits each including a control unit and a power supply unit for supplying power to the control unit, and a wired-OR circuit unit in which output lines of the N systems of contact output circuits are wired-OR connected,
The power supply unit includes:
A circuit breaker for overcurrent in the positive line (e.g., fuse F1 in FIG. 1 );
having
The control unit is
An output relay;
an operating contact of the output relay, one end of which is connected to the output of the driving power supply unit and the other end of which is connected to the output line of the contact output circuit;
having
The wired-OR circuit unit includes:
the drive power supply unit which outputs the positive pole shunt lines of the N systems which are commonly connected on the upstream side of the positive pole line by connecting them in a wired-OR manner via a shunt circuit breaker (e.g., fuses F3 and F4 in FIG. 1 ) and a diode whose forward direction is the power supply direction (e.g., diode 46 in FIG. 1 );
having
It is a contact output device.

According to the first invention, a contact output device in which the output lines of each redundant contact output circuit are wired-OR connected can be realized, so that even if a power line of one system is short-circuited, the operation of the contact output circuit of the other system does not stop.

In other words, if a fault occurs in which the positive and negative lines of the power supply unit are short-circuited in a certain system, the contact output circuit of that system stops operating due to the interruption of the circuit breaker interposed in the positive line, and the operating contact of the output relay is opened to separate it from the wired-OR connection with the other systems, but it takes a certain amount of time for the circuit breaker to interrupt. In the wired-OR circuit section, the output line of the contact output circuit of each system is connected to the output of a common driving power supply unit via the operating contact of the output relay of that system. The driving power supply unit outputs the positive shunt line, which is not the positive line of the power supply unit of each system, by wired-OR connection via a shunt circuit breaker and a diode with the power supply direction as the forward direction. Therefore, even if the potential of the positive line of a certain system drops due to a short-circuit fault in the power supply unit of that system, the potential of the positive line of the power supply unit of the other systems does not drop via the wired-OR connection. In addition, even if a potential difference occurs between the positive pole shunt lines of each system, a diode with the power supply direction as the forward direction interposed in the positive pole shunt line prevents the current due to the potential difference from flowing in the positive pole shunt line. This prevents the circuit breaker of the other system from tripping, and the operation of the contact output circuit of the other system from stopping.

The second invention relates to the above-mentioned invention.
The power supply unit of the contact output circuit is
a capacitor connected between the positive electrode line and the negative electrode line on a power supply current downstream side of the circuit breaker;
having
It is a contact output device.

According to the second invention, even if a short circuit occurs between the positive and negative lines due to a short circuit failure of a capacitor in the power supply section of the contact output circuit, the operation of the contact output circuit of that system is stopped by the interruption of the circuit breaker interposed in the positive line. Even if the operation of the contact output circuit of that system is stopped, the operation of the contact output circuits of other systems will not be stopped due to the effect of the first invention.

The third invention is the above-mentioned invention,
The wired-OR circuit unit includes:
A fault response relay for each of the N systems;
and a rear stage in which the output lines of the N-system contact output circuits are wired-OR connected,
An external output relay;
an operating contact of each of the fault response relays of the N systems connected in parallel;
connected in series,
It is a contact output device.

According to the third invention, the operating contacts of the fault response relays of the systems in which no faults have been detected in the contact output circuits are configured. If there is one or more contact output circuits in which no faults have been detected among the N systems of contact output circuits, the external output relay operates (drives or recovers), and the operation of the contact output device does not stop.

FIG. 2 is a schematic circuit diagram of a contact output device.

Below, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the forms to which the present invention can be applied are not limited to the following embodiments.

Figure 1 is a schematic circuit diagram of the contact output device 1 of this embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the contact output device 1 of this embodiment is a dual-system contact output device equipped with two systems (N = 2) of contact output circuits 10 (system 1 contact output circuit 10a and system 2 contact output circuit 10b) and a wired-OR circuit section 40. Since the contact output circuits 10 (10a, 10b) of each system have the same configuration, Figure 1 shows the detailed configuration of the system 1 contact output circuit 10a and omits the detailed configuration of the system 2 contact output circuit 10b. In addition, for the components of the contact output circuits 10 (10a, 10b), the components of the system 1 contact output circuit 10a are marked with "a" at the end of the reference numerals, and the components of the system 2 contact output circuit 10b are marked with "b" at the end of the reference numerals.

Since the 1-system contact output circuit 10a and the 2-system contact output circuit 10b have the same circuit configuration, in the following explanation, they will be collectively referred to as the "contact output circuit 10" and the internal circuit configuration of the "contact output circuit 10" will be explained. In addition, where necessary to distinguish the systems, the components will be prefixed with "1-system" or "2-system" and the reference numerals will be suffixed with "a" or "b" for explanation.

The contact output circuit 10 includes a control unit 20 and a power supply unit 30 that supplies power to the control unit 20.

The control unit 20 has a control logic unit 21, an output relay 22, an output relay drive unit 24 that drives the output relay 22, a semiconductor switch 25, a fault relay 26, and a fault relay drive unit 28 that drives the fault relay 26. Each unit of the control unit 20 operates on a 24V DC control unit power supply supplied from the power supply unit 30.

The control logic unit 21 is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. The control logic unit 21 drives the output relay 22 via the output relay drive unit 24, which is a photoelectric coupling type fail-safe drive circuit, according to a relay control signal input from a higher-level device (not shown). Specifically, when the relay control signal is in control, an alternating signal is output to the output relay drive unit 24 to drive the output relay 22 and configure the operating contact 23i and the operating contact (C-N) of the contact 23ii. On the other hand, when the relay control signal is not in control, the output of the alternating signal is stopped, the output relay 22 is restored, the operating contact 23i is opened, and the recovery contact (C-R) of the contact 23ii is configured. One end of the operating contact 23i of the output relay 22 is connected to the output (B24R(+)) of the driving power supply unit 45 of the wired-OR circuit unit 40, and the other end is connected to the output line L of the contact output circuit 10.

The control logic unit 21 also judges the rationality of the contact of the contact 23ii of the output relay 22 and the relay control signal. In other words, it judges whether the control of the relay control signal matches the configuration of the operating contact (C-N) or the recovery contact (C-R) of the contact 23ii, and if there is a mismatch, it determines that a failure has been detected, and after restoring the failure relay 26 via the failure relay driver 28, it stops the operation of the control logic unit 21.

The control logic unit 21 also controls the on/off of the semiconductor switch 25. The semiconductor switch 25 is, for example, a solid state relay (SSR). In order to protect the operating contact 42i of the external output relay 41, the semiconductor switch 25 is connected in series with the operating contact 44i of the fault response relay 43 and is provided between the 28V positive line (B28-1B28, B28-2B28) of the external power supply and the operating contact 42i of the external output relay 41.

Specifically, the control logic unit 21 controls the operation of the output relay 22 to determine the state of the operating contact 23i, and then when a certain time has elapsed and the operating contact 42i of the external output relay 41 is in a stable state, controls the semiconductor switch 25 to turn on and applies the external power supply (1B28, 2B28) to the operating contact 42i of the external output relay 41. In addition, when restoring the output relay 22, the control logic unit 21 controls the semiconductor switch 25 to turn off and cuts off the application of the external power supply (1B28, 2B28) to the operating contact 44i of the external output relay 41, and then restores the output relay 22.

The control logic unit 21 also judges the rationality of the on/off state of the semiconductor switch 25 and the on/off control signal output to the semiconductor switch 25. In other words, it judges whether the on/off state of the control signal matches the on/off state of the semiconductor switch 25, and if they do not match, it judges that a failure in its own system has been detected, restores the failure relay 26 via the failure relay drive unit 28, and then stops the operation of the control logic unit 21.

The fault relay drive unit 28 is a photoelectric coupling type fail-safe drive circuit, and drives the fault relay 26 according to the drive signal input from the control logic unit 21. When the control logic unit 21 does not detect a fault in its own system, it outputs an alternating signal as a drive signal, drives the fault relay 26 and configures the operating contact 27, and when it detects a fault, it stops outputting the alternating signal, restores the fault relay 26, and opens the operating contact 27.

The power supply unit 30 supplies the control unit 20 with a 24V DC power supply for operation, and supplies the wired-OR circuit unit 40 with a 28V DC external power supply for contact output.

The control power supply supplies power for the contact output circuit 10 of each system from a 24V DC power supply (B24) for that system. The positive side line supplied from this power supply (B24) is called the 24V positive line (B24-1B24, B24-2B24), and the negative side line is called the negative line (C24). In addition to the current from the power supply (B24) for the contact output circuit 10 for that system from the control power supply, the current from the power supply (B24) is also shunted in parallel to the wired-OR circuit unit 40. Therefore, the positive side line shunted in parallel to the wired-OR circuit unit 40 is called the positive shunt line (B24-1B24R, B24-2B24R). In other words, the positive pole branch lines (B24-1B24R, B24-2B24R) are lines that are commonly connected upstream of the 24V positive pole lines (B24-1B24, B24-2B24).

The control unit power supply has a fuse F1 interposed in the 24V positive line (B24-1B24, B24-2B24) and a voltage stabilization capacitor C connected downstream of the fuse F1 in the power supply current between the 24V positive line (B24-1B24, B24-2B24) and the negative line (C24). Through the fuse F1 and capacitor C, power is supplied to the contact output circuit 10 of the system as a voltage between the 24V positive line (B24-1B24, B24-2B24) and the negative line (C24). The fuse F1 is a circuit breaker for overcurrent, and cuts off the current by melting when an overcurrent flows.

The external power supply supplies the 28V DC power supply (B28) of each system as a voltage between the 28V positive line (B28-1B28, B28-2B28) and the negative line (C28) via fuse F2 interposed in the 28V positive line (B28-1B28, B28-2B28).

The wired-OR circuit section 40 is a circuit in which the output lines L (La, Lb) of the contact output circuits 10 (10a, 10b) of each system are wired-OR connected, and includes an external output relay 41, a fault response relay 43 (43a, 43b) of each system, and a drive power supply section 45.

The external output relay 41 has one end connected to the output lines L (La, Lb) of the contact output circuits 10 (10a, 10b) of each system in a wired-OR connection, and the other end connected to the negative line (C24) of the control unit power supply via the operating contacts 44ii (44iia, 44iib) of the fault response relays 43 (43a, 43b) of each system connected in parallel. In other words, the wired-OR circuit unit 40 has the external output relay 41 and the operating contacts 44ii (44iia, 44iib) of the fault response relays 43 (43a, 43b) of each system connected in parallel connected in series after the output lines L (La, Lb) of the contact output circuits 10 (10a, 10b) of the N systems are wired-OR connected.

The fault reaction relay 43 is connected in series with the operating contact 27 of the fault relay 26 of the corresponding system, and the 24V positive line (B24-1B24, B24-2B24) and negative line (C24) of the control unit power supply are connected to both ends of the series connection. In other words, the fault reaction relay 43 operates according to the fault relay 26, such that when the operating contact 27 of the fault relay 26 is configured, the fault reaction relay 43 is driven to configure the operating contacts 44i, 44ii, and when the operating contact 27 is open, the fault reaction relay 43 is restored to open the operating contacts 44i, 44ii.

The drive power supply unit 45 supplies 24V DC drive power to the external output relay 41. The drive power supply unit 45 outputs (B24R(+)) by wired-ORing the positive branch lines (B24-1B24R, B24-2B24R) of each system via diodes 46 (46a, 46b) whose forward direction is the power supply direction. The positive branch lines (B24-1B24R, B24-2B24R) are lines commonly connected upstream of the 24V positive lines (B24-1B24, B24-2B24) of the control unit power supplies of each system, and supply the 24V DC power supply (B24) via fuses F3 and F4, which are branch circuit breakers. In addition, the wired-OR circuit section 40 is composed of a relay circuit, and the accuracy of the relay's operating voltage value does not require the same level of accuracy as the voltage value of the electronic circuit, so there is no need to provide a capacitor for voltage stabilization.

The wired-OR circuit section 40 further has an output positive terminal (+) and an output negative terminal (-) for contact output. The output positive terminal (+) is wired-OR connected to the 28V positive line (B28-1B28, B28-2B28) of the external power supply via the operating contact 42i of the external output relay 41 and the series connection of the semiconductor switch 25 of each system and the operating contact 44i of the fault response relay 43. The output negative terminal (-) is connected to the negative line (C28) of the external power supply via the operating contact 42ii of the external output relay 41.

The operation of the contact output device 1 will be described. First, in normal operation when no fault occurs in the contact output circuits 10 of all systems, the fault relays 26 of all systems are driven to form the operating contacts 27, and all the fault reaction relays 43 are also driven to form the operating contacts 44i, 44ii. In addition, in the wired-OR circuit section 40, the other end of the external output relay 41 is connected to the negative line (C24) of the control unit power supply via a parallel connection of the operating contacts 44ii (44iia, 44iib) of the fault reaction relays 43 of each system. Then, according to the relay control signal, the contact output circuits 10 of each system perform the same operation. That is, according to the relay control signal, the output relays 22 of each system are driven or restored to form or open the operating contacts 23i, and according to the formation or opening of the operating contacts 23i of this output relay 22, the external output relay 41 is driven or restored to form or open the operating contacts 42i, 42ii, and the contact output is output between the output positive terminal (+) and the output negative terminal (-).

Next, as an operation during a failure, we will assume that "when the output relay 22 is driven (i.e., when the operating contact 23i is configured), the capacitor C of the control power supply of the 1-system power supply unit 30a is short-circuited and fails." When the capacitor C of the control power supply of the 1-system power supply unit 30a is short-circuited, the 24V positive line (B24 to 1B24) and the negative line (C24) are short-circuited, a potential difference occurs between both ends of the fuse F1 of the control power supply, and current flows. Depending on the characteristics, the fuse F1 melts after a predetermined time, and the 24V positive line (B24 to 1B24) becomes the same potential as the negative line (C24). Then, the control logic unit 21a, output relay drive unit 24a, and failure relay drive unit 28a of the 1-system control unit 20a, which operate by the supply of the control power supply, stop operating, and the output relay 22a and failure relay 26a are restored.

When the output relay 22a of the first-system contact output circuit 10a is restored and its operating contact 23ia is opened, the output line La of the first-system contact output circuit 10a where a failure has occurred is disconnected from the wired-OR connection among the output lines L (La, Lb) of the contact output circuits 10 (10a, 10b) of each system that are wired-OR connected to one end of the external output relay 41. In other words, only the output line Lb of the second-system contact output circuit 10b is connected to one end of the external output relay 41, and a contact output according to the operation (drive or recovery) of the output relay 22b of the second-system contact output circuit 10b is output between the output positive terminal (+) and the output negative terminal (-).

Failure relay 26a of contact output circuit 10a of system 1 is restored and its operating contact 27a is opened, so that failure response relay 43a of system 1 is restored and its operating contact 44iia is opened. Therefore, the other end of external output relay 41 is connected to negative line C24 only via operating contact 44iib of failure response relay 43b of system 2.

At this time, a certain amount of time is required from the short circuit of the capacitor C of the 1-system power supply unit 30a until the fuse F1 is blown. A certain amount of time is required from the short circuit of the capacitor C until the output relay 22a of the 1-system is restored, its operating contact 23ia is opened, and the output line La of the 1-system contact output circuit 10a is disconnected from the wired-OR connection.

The output line L of the contact output circuit 10 of each system that is wired-OR connected in the wired-OR circuit section 40 is connected to the output (B24R(+)) of the common drive power supply section 45 via the operating contact 23i of the output relay 22 of that system. Therefore, even if the potential of the 24V positive line (B24 to 1B24) of the 1st system power supply section 30a drops during the time until the capacitor C of the 1st system power supply section 30a shorts out and the output line La of the 1st system contact output circuit 10a is disconnected from the wired-OR connection, the potential of the 24V positive line (B24 to 2B24) of the 2nd system power supply section 30b, which is the other system, does not drop through the wired-OR connection of the output line L of the contact output circuit 10 of each system.

In addition, if capacitor C of the control unit power supply of system 1 power supply unit 30a is shorted, the potential of the 24V positive line (B24 to 1B24) will drop, which may result in a drop in the potential of the system 1 positive branch line (B24 to 1B24R). The drive power supply unit 45 outputs the positive branch lines (B24 to 1B24R, B24 to 2B24R) of each system by wired-OR connection via diodes 46 (46a, 46b) with the power supply direction as the forward direction. Therefore, even if the potential of the 1st system positive pole branch line (B24-1B24R) drops, the potential difference prevents current from flowing from the 2nd system positive pole branch line (B24-2B24R) with the higher potential to the 1st system positive pole branch line (B24-1B24R) with the lower potential, and the potential of the 2nd system positive pole branch line (B24-2B24R) does not drop.

As a result, the fuse F1 of the control unit power supply of the second-system power supply unit 30b does not blow, and the second-system contact output circuit 10b does not stop operating.

The same applies if the capacitor C of the control unit power supply of the second-system power supply unit shorts out. In this case, the fuse F1 of the second-system power supply unit blows and the output line Lb of the second-system contact output circuit 10b is disconnected from the wired-OR connection, but the fuse F1 of the first-system power supply unit 30a does not blow, and the first-system contact output circuit 10a does not stop operating.

[Action and Effect]
In this manner, according to this embodiment, the contact outputs of each of the two systems of contact output circuits 10 (10a, 10b) are wired-OR connected, and a contact output device 1 can be realized in which, even if a short circuit occurs in the power supply line (24 V positive line (B24-1B24, B24-2B24) and negative line (C24)) of the power supply unit 30 (30a, ...) of one system, the operation of the contact output circuit 10 (10a, 10b) of the other system is not stopped.

In other words, if a short circuit occurs in the capacitor C of the power supply unit 30 in a certain system, causing a short circuit between the 24V positive line (B24-1B24, B24-2B24) and the negative line (C24), the contact output circuit 10 of that system will stop operating due to the interruption of the fuse F1, which is a circuit breaker in the 24V positive line, and the operating contact 23i of the output relay 22 will open and be disconnected from the wired-OR connection with other systems, but it will take some time for the circuit breaker to interrupt the circuit.

In the wired-OR circuit section 40, the output line L of the contact output circuit 10 of each system is connected to the output (B24R(+)) of a common driving power supply section 45 via the operating contact 23i of the output relay 22 of that system. The driving power supply section 45 outputs a wired-OR connection of the positive branch lines (B24-1B24R, B24-2B24R) which are not the 24V positive lines (B24-1B24, B24-2B24) of the power supply section 30 of each system, via diodes 46 (46a, 46b) whose forward direction is the power supply direction. Therefore, even if a short circuit occurs in the power supply unit 30 of a certain system and the potential of the 24V positive line (B24-1B24, B24-2B24) of that system drops, the potential of the 24V positive line (B24-1B24, B24-2B24) of the power supply unit 30 of the other system does not drop through the wired-OR connection. Also, even if a potential difference occurs between the positive branch lines (B24-1B24R, B24-2B24R) of each system, the diodes 46 (46a, 46b) whose forward direction is the power supply direction and are interposed in the positive branch lines (B24-1B24R, B24-2B24R) prevent a current due to the potential difference from flowing in the positive branch lines (B24-1B24R, B24-2B24R). This prevents the circuit breaker of the other system from tripping and prevents the operation of the contact output circuit 10 of the other system from stopping.

The applicable embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can of course be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

(A) Number of lines N
For example, in the above embodiment, a contact output device 1 having two systems (N=2) of contact output circuits 10 (10a, 10b) was described, but a contact output device having three or more systems (N>2) of contact output circuits may also be configured.

(B) Circuit Breaker In addition, in the above-described embodiment, a fuse is provided as a circuit breaker for overcurrent. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other circuit breakers such as an NFB (No Fuse Breaker) or an MCB (Molded Circuit Breaker) may be used as long as they are a circuit breaker that cuts off the wiring when an overcurrent occurs due to a short circuit or overload.

1...Contact output device 10 (10a, 10b)...Contact output circuit 20 (20a, ...)...Control unit 21 (21a, ...)...Control logic unit 22 (22a, ...)...Output relay 23i, 23ii (23ia, 23iia, ...)...Output relay contact 24 (24a, ...)...Output relay drive unit 25 (25a, ...)...Semiconductor switch 26 (26a, ...)...Fault relay 27 (27a, ...)...Fault relay contact 28 (28a, ...)...Fault relay drive unit 30 (30a, ...)...Power supply unit F1, F2...Fuse C...Capacitor 40...Wired OR circuit unit 41...External output relay 42i, 42ii...External output relay contact 43...Fault response relay 44i, 44ii, 44iii...Fault response relay contact F3, F4... fuses 45... driving power supply section 46 (46a, 46b)... diodes

Claims (3)

A contact output device comprising N systems (N≧2) of contact output circuits each including a control unit and a power supply unit for supplying power to the control unit, and a wired-OR circuit unit in which output lines of the N systems of contact output circuits are wired-OR connected,
The power supply unit includes:
A circuit breaker for overcurrent in the positive line;
having
The control unit is
An output relay;
an operating contact of the output relay, one end of which is connected to the output of the driving power supply unit and the other end of which is connected to the output line of the contact output circuit;
having
The wired-OR circuit unit includes:
the drive power supply unit, which outputs the positive pole shunt lines of the N systems, which are commonly connected on the upstream side of the positive pole line, by wired-OR connection via a shunt circuit breaker and a diode whose forward direction is the power supply direction;
having
Contact output device. The power supply unit of the contact output circuit is
a capacitor connected between the positive electrode line and the negative electrode line on a power supply current downstream side of the circuit breaker;
having
The contact output device according to claim 1 . The wired-OR circuit unit includes:
A fault response relay for each of the N systems;
and a rear stage in which the output lines of the N-system contact output circuits are wired-OR connected,
An external output relay;
The operating contacts of the fault response relays of each of the N systems connected in parallel (and
connected in series,
The contact output device according to claim 1 or 2.

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